She’s not giving up without a fight

Many in real estate or Escondido Chamber of Commerce circlesknow Perry under her previous name of Colette Sarkozy. Once namedAgent of the Year by the Escondido Board of Realtors, Perry was afamiliar sight at various chamber events.

Getting out is more difficult now for Perry. Three years ago,her left foot started dragging on her daily three-mile walks. Shesoon noticed problems doing other once-routine tasks. It tookawhile for doctors to nail down a diagnosis, and when they did, itwasn’t good news.

Perry has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known better as ALS orLou Gehrig’s Disease. The degenerative disease attacks nerve cellsand pathways in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscleatrophy and ultimately to paralysis and death.

“I liked to have 15 or 20 things going on in a day. Now, if Ihave one, it wears me out,” said Perry.

A person as active as she was, though, doesn’t just quit. InApril, she went to Washington, D.C., with her husband, Bruce, tolobby members of Congress for more funding to fight ALS.

Since her diagnosis, she and Bruce have traveled to London,Paris, New York City and Sedona. Each month, Bruce tries toorganize a surprise trip somewhere, most recently an overnight indowntown San Diego.

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Although she has lost the use of her hands and is pretty muchconfined to a wheelchair, Perry is trying to make good use of hertime, encouraging visits from friends and family members to theresidential center where she now lives. She’s even learning Spanishfrom some of the workers at the center and teaching themEnglish.

“She’s inspiring,” said her friend Irene Bauer, who visitsnearly every day to help Perry eat her lunch. “A bad thing hashappened, and she still thinks good thoughts.”

Tearfully admitting what has happened to her is hard to dealwith, Perry takes comfort in a few things.

“I’ve gotten to know my friends better. Lou Gehrig said he wasthe luckiest man on Earth. I could never understand why. But Iunderstand now,” she said. “My husband is wonderful, mystepchildren are so good. I’ve got my circle of friends and I madenew friends out of this. … So I understand what Lou Gehrigmeant.”

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She is unhappy that more than 60 years after Gehrig’s death fromALS, there is still no known cause or cure for the disease, and alimited amount of funding available for research. Perry wants toget the word out so someday that situation will change.

“I can’t flip a page in a book, but you see the pen in yourhand? You can use it to do a lot of good,” she said. “I can’t pickup a pen, but you can to do something good for the people with thisdisease.”